Concord Prison Outreach

Please RSVP for Zoom Invite: outreach@concordprisonoutreach.org

Cambridge Friends School, Cambridge, MA

Alumni of Color Conference, Harvard Graduate School of Education

Cambridge, MA

Trinity Episcopal Church

Concord, MA

Integrating Restorative Justice into the US Criminal Context, Harvard Law School Symposium

A Community Conversation at The Smith Center, Harvard University

A Conversation with Paul Farmer, Harvard Medical School

The Criminal Law curriculum is doctrinally challenging, and, in many cases, intellectually interesting. But does it prepare future lawyers to think about the criminal legal system in imaginative ways? Does it train future lawyers to identify and understand the interests represented in the criminal court room? Does it interrogate the racialized, communal violence brought about via the criminal law and those who design and enforce it? The answer to all of the above questions is, unfortunately, no.

This panel discussion is designed to initiate a dialogue between those in the Greater Boston area, who are working on criminal legal issues in imaginative ways that transcend the defender-prosecutor paradigm, and HLS students. Employing harm-reduction and restorative justice frameworks, among others, these activists, lawyers, organizers, and scholars think about criminal law beyond the court room. The panel features Fatema Ahmad of Muslim Justice League, Makis Antzoulatos of Committee for Public Counsel Services/National Lawyers Guild, Samantha Calero of Mijente Boston, and Kaia Stern of the Prison Studies Project/Harvard Graduate School of Education. Hosted by CJPP and HLS NLG. Moderated by CJPP Student Fellow, Michael Banerjee. Dinner will be served.

Opening Remarks, Danielle Allen

Conference Chairs, Kaia Stern and Elizabeth Hinton

The Thomson Room, Barker Center, Harvard University

"Radical Hospitality"

The Memorial Church, Harvard University, Cambridge MA

MCI Concord, Concord, MA

Harvard Graduate School of Education

Askwith Hall, 13 Appian Way, Cambridge, MA 02138

Interdisciplinary Humanities Center of the University of California, Santa Barbara. 

Why study the humanities in prison? Why teach them?  What is the value of prison humanities programs for communities both inside and outside of prisons?  What humanistic texts and skills do we teach? A day-long symposium, hosted by the Interdisciplinary Humanities Center of the University of California, Santa Barbara, will include the voices of educators and the formerly incarcerated, in this exploration of building intellectual communities across systemic divides through the humanities. This program will be of interest to those involved in public humanities, social justice, transformative pedagogy and civic engagement. 

The Past and Future of Prison Education at Harvard
Tuesday, March 6, 6-8pm

Sanders Theatre

This capstone event will highlight eight panelists with experiences on all sides of a range of prison education programs to discuss the impact of these programs on their lives. The panel includes pairs of students and practitioners who have built and sustained prison education programs ranging from college courses in Massachusetts and New York prisons to community racial justice reading groups in Oregon. Half of the panelists are formerly-incarcerated and many earned degrees while behind bars. Others have helped to teach and build these programs and now work with post-incarcerated people to better address their specific needs. The panel will testify to the range, scope, and depth of prison education and its capacity to address the epidemic of mass incarceration by bringing representatives of the most innovative and dynamic programs in the country. It will consider the work that has been done at Harvard, what we can draw inspiration from, and where we can go from here. 

At this presentation we will also be unveiling a historical report and 15-minute documentary film on the history of prison education at Harvard.

Panelists:

Dr. Steven Hahn, Pulitzer-Prize winning historian, New York University, Prison Education Program
Jose Diaz, New York University Prison Education Program
Paul Henry Grice, III, Liberation Literacy
Dr. Garrett Felber, University of Mississippi, Liberation Literacy
Dr. Kaia Stern, Harvard University, Prison Studies Project
Catherine Sirois, Harvard College Alumni, currently at Stanford University, Prison Studies Project
Michelle Jones, New York University, Indiana Women’s Prison Higher Education Program
Darren Mack, The Center for Justice at Columbia University, Just Leadership USA, Bard Prison Initiative

Second Chances: Life After Prison
Monday, March 5, 4-6pm

Memorial Church

This panel brings together some of the leading activists in the criminal justice reform movement—all of whom have served prison sentences—to consider the lived reality of formerly incarcerated people. In a roundtable format, the participants will share personal stories to help us better understand the specific obstacles incarcerated people face as they navigate their return home. We will also consider possible policies and programs that can help us heal from the consequences of mass incarceration both as individuals and as a society.

Panelists:

Vivian Nixon, Executive Director, College and Community Fellowship
Tyrone Werts, Inside/Out Exchange Program Think Tank, Soros Justice Fellow
Jay Jordan, Project Director, Californians for Safety and Justice
Cheryl Wilkins, Columbia University Center for Justice

Keynote: What Is Social Justice? And How Do We Put It Into Practice?

The Responsibility of Engagement: Prison & Education Symposium, Workshop

Sermon: Prison Ministry and Where We We Go from Here

Concord Prison Outreach, Holiday Gathering Keynote

Behind Bars: Ethics and Human Rights in U.S. Prisons at the Harvard Medical School Center for Bioethics

Open Conversation. Andover Chapel, 45 Francis Ave, Cambridge, MA

Sperry Room, Andover Hall, Harvard Divinity School, from 6:15pm-8pm

45 Francis Ave, Cambridge, MA 02138

As part of the Transformative Justice Series, we will be hosting a panel discussion and screening the documentary from award-winning journalist Bill Moyers.

Opening Remarks: Kaia Stern, Harvard Graduate School of Education

Moderator: Edyson Julio, Urban Scholar at Harvard's Graduate School of Education

Panelists: Hector B. Custodio (Pastor Benny), Founder and CEO of Never Forsaken Re-entry Ministries, Inc.; Jason Gordon, former Bloods gang member, Founder of the non-profit Glass Ceilings; Jerome L. Pitts, Coordinator, Transitional Employment Program, Haley House; Tina Williams, Community Advocate, On the Rise, Inc.